Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with US Presidential Special Envoys in Jerusalem today. Phto credit: Ma'ayan Toaf (Government Press Office, Israel)
Jerusalem/Tehran/Washington: After Sheikh Naim Qassem’s appointment as the new Hezbollah chief in Lebanon on October 29, 2024, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today told the United States Presidential Special Envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk in Jerusalem that any “this or that” agreement on paper could never be the “main point” for Israel.
Netanyahu made it clear that the main point was Israel’s ability and determination to enforce the agreement and thwart any threat to its security from Lebanon, “in a manner that will return our residents securely to their homes”. Later, while speaking at the IDF Officers Course Graduation Ceremony, he said, “As for the talk about an arrangement in Lebanon, I would like to make it clear: The agreements, documents, proposals and numbers – 1701, 1559 – with all due respect, are not the main point. The main point is our ability and determination to enforce security, thwart attacks against us, and act against the arming of our enemies, as necessary and despite any pressure and constraints. This is the main point”.
Incidentally, Qassem, the new leader of Hezbollah, hinted yesterday at being open to a ceasefire. The two White House officials’ brief has also been to engage Israel on issues including a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon, and how to end the conflict in Gaza and other regional matters.
“We do ultimately want to see a ceasefire, and we want to see a diplomatic resolution that allows civilians both in Lebanon and Israel return to their homes,” the US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in Washington that the two White House officials.
However, Israel has thus far maintained an uncompromising stand vis a vis Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon at a time when it has made significant progress in striking Hezbollah sites, clearing out their infrastructure along the border, and forcing Hezbollah forces along the border to pull back.
Israeli forces today struck Baalbek, a historic city in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley after issuing evacuation orders. At least 19 people, including eight women, were killed in the strikes, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.
Netanyahu, in a separate meeting to approve the 2025 State Budget, referred to the new objectives that Israel needed to meet, which were mainly directed to the security sphere, “which we must reinforce”. He said, “The strength of the military and the security ability of the State of Israel was expressed this past year, especially last month, in an extraordinary fashion, which has inspired our friends and struck fear into our enemies. This is ongoing. We are not finished and major things are yet before us…”
The Iran angle further complicates the issue of an early ceasefire in Lebanon. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian hoped that under the new Secretary-General, the Hezbollah group “will strengthen the will in the field of resistance and also the continuation of the bright path of the high-ranking martyrs of this front”.
Pezeshkian, while declaring that the defence of “Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the lofty ideals of the resistance front and the oppressed Palestinian nation, are of historical importance”, today urged Muslim countries to unite to force the Zionist regime to stop committing atrocities against people of Gaza and Lebanon.
“Today, if we rely on the tradition of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and preserve and enhance our unity, and if Muslim nations unite, the Zionists will not dare commit such crimes”, Pezeshkian said today during a meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ja’far Sobhani in the Iranian city of Qom.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf described Qassem as “a fighter with experience”, who had a “commitment to the principles and goals of the Lebanese Resistance Front and Hezbollah”.
Already last Friday (October 25, 2024) Israel responded to Iran’s launching of about 200 ballistic missiles on Israel by striking Iran’s military sites in which at least four persons were killed. Significantly, the response that Israel launched, did not include Iran’s nuclear-related targets or attacks on economic sites, presumably because of the US pressure. Netanyahu said today, “Regarding Iran, we struck its soft underbelly. The haughty words of the Iranian regime’s leaders cannot cover up the fact in Iran today, Israel has greater freedom of action than ever before. We can go anywhere that we need to in Iran. The supreme objective that I have set for the IDF and the security services is to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons. Halting the nuclear programme has been – and remains – our chief concern. I have not taken, we have not taken and we will not take, our eyes off this objective. Obviously, I cannot detail our plans to achieve this supreme goal.”
But whether Israel arrives at any agreement on a ceasefire under US pressure is to be seen.
– global bihari bureau
